How do you troubleshoot a computer problem? Do you ever wonder how some people are successful at troubleshooting various computer problems, while others seem to be unable to find a direction to even look? Successfully resolving a computer problem is not a special gift; it does not require a unique talent, it does not take years of experience. While experience helps, everybody can resolve PC issues as long as one keeps a few simple, but important things in mind. Try to understand the problem Before you do anything; analyze the situation, try to understand what is happening, make a list of the symptoms of the problem, isolate the area where the problem is most likely located, and make a list of things to check. For example, if you have a problem with your computer not booting, no lights at all, think about what this means before you do anything, and analyze the situation. A logical conclusion would be that there is no power. Now think about what is necessary to get that power to your PC: An outlet, maybe a power strip, a power cable, a power supply, a power switch, etc. Now that you have analyzed the situation and have isolated the area where the problem might lie, you can now start troubleshooting. There is a method to the madness Any successful troubleshooting of a computer problem starts with a very basic premise. Approach the problem logically and methodically. Yes, think like Mr. Spock! Take one step at a time and progress logically from one step to the next. To demonstrate this with our example, you start at the beginning with the outlet in the wall. Make sure you have electricity at the outlet that the computer plugs into. You could do this by plugging in another device that you know is working, e.g. a lamp. Then check the cords, and any thing that is between that outlet and the computer (UPS, Surge Protector, etc.). The important thing is that you proceed one step at a time, and if you change anything, change just ONE thing and try the computer again. Narrow it down logically and be sure to keep track of your steps, preferably by making notes on some scratch paper so that you can retrace your steps and keep track of what you've tried so far. Isolate and Replace The idea here is to eliminate possibilities while you seek a way to solve your problem. Often, the most effective way to eliminate a possibility is to substitute a known working device in place of the suspect device. As an example, if your monitor stays black, is it the monitor or the graphics card? Hooking up a monitor that works from another computer and seeing what happens will let you eliminate your monitor as the source of the problem or identify it as the source of the problem. Think outside the box Don't get locked into a narrow-minded approach or solution that you are sure is "IT". All too often, it isn't and when you have locked yourself into that solution, you make it much more difficult to correctly identify the problem. To stick with the example of the monitor not working, don't assume it must be the monitor and just focus on the monitor. The monitor could be working just fine, but it does not receive a signal from the video card because the video card was not seated correctly and slipped out of its slot. Or to use our earlier example with the computer not booting, don't limit your troubleshooting to the computer. Maybe the problem was that the outlet it is plugged into, is controlled by a switch that accidentally got flipped to the Off position. Be sure to look at the whole picture. Don't be intimidated! Think about what a computer really does. Never forget that all a computer really does is manipulate 1s and 0s. It uses a number of mechanical devices and software to let it do this and to communicate that information with you. When you have a problem with the computer, the problem has to do with its ability to manipulate that information. What are the key processes that need to be considered? Electricity - A computer requires a clean, uninterrupted source of electricity to operate. Not having that will cause problems sooner or later. Processor - This is where the code is actually manipulated and it must work properly for the computer to work properly. Fortunately, the processor chip is one of the most reliable parts of the computer when run at its recommended settings. Memory - SDRAM, RDRAM, or whatever memory you have must work well or there will be errors. This is where the computer stores the data it is manipulating. Storage - You have to keep the information somewhere. That is usually the hard drive. If the harried is having problems, then you can expect to have problems. Along with all those things are the motherboard and the various peripherals that link it all together and allow us to see and hear the data or share the data with other computers. Remember that each of these devices have specific functions, but the four mentioned above effect everything we do with the computer. If the problem is a system-wide one, then we should take a hard look at these four devices. Software Problems So far, I have focused on hardware problems, but we should note that software can also cause problems. Poorly written code, corrupted files, buggy drivers, and other software issues can cause problems that can be difficult to solve. The same principles apply though. Understand the problem, record the symptoms, isolate the problem area, and eliminate each possible cause via a methodical step-by-step approach until the problem is solved. For example: If your fax software is causing problems, start by uninstalling and reinstalling the software to eliminate the chance of corrupt files. If that doesn't work, uninstall and try different software. If the problem persists, you have eliminated the application as the cause for the problem and can proceed to the next step. It may be a problem with the OS, and the particular part of it that the fax software hooks into. This may require a new install to correct, or you may be able to use a repair tool (like Windows' System File Checker [SFC]) to identify and fix the problem. If the problem still persists, it may be time to look at the modem and see if it's a hardware problem. Backseat Driver A very common problem area that crosses the border between software and hardware are drivers. Keep in mind that most hardware components in your computer need drivers to function properly. Unfortunately, no driver is perfect. If your problem involves weird behavior of a certain hardware component such as printer, video card, sound card, etc., then the first step should be a visit to the manufacturer's web site (you can find a list of manufacturer's web sites at http://www.pcnineoneone.com/links.html#manufacturers) to download and install the most recent driver. You might not be alone When you troubleshoot a problem, keep in mind that you might not be the only one that ran into that issue. Most manufacturers keep some sort of FAQ or knowledge base on their web site with a list of solutions to common problems and/or offer patches that might fix your problem. It is always a good idea to consult the manufacturer's support pages to cover all your bases. Summary Stay calm Understand the problem before doing anything Be methodical and logical Document your steps Find the problem by process of elimination Be sure to look at the big picture and consider all possibilities Don't be intimidated Keeping these steps in mind is the key to successful troubleshooting. For more specific ideas and information, check out these tutorials: Repairing Windows http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/sysfile1.html Device Drivers http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/driver1.html Shut Down Background Applications http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/ts1.html UPS - Uninterruptable Power Supplies http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/ups1.html Backing up your data http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/backup1.html Virus Protection http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/antivirus.html PC & Data Safety http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/safety.html Master Thy Modem http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/modem1.html Keeping it cool http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/cooling1.html Clean Up Your Hard Drive http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/drvcln1.html Troubleshooting Boot Problems http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/bootprob1.html Disk Imaging http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/image1.html CD-ROM Boot Disk http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/cdboot1.html Correcting a slow PC clock http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/slowclock.html Clean install Windows http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/clean1.html Some Troubleshooting Examples: Software Problem Troubleshooting Example Occasionally, while surfing the Net using IE5.x you get an error message that reads something like this: IEXPLORE caused an invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.DLL at 017f:bff87ede You can shut down IE5, but when you try to restart it, IE5 just crashes again. The only solution is to reboot. Consistently, the programs running when this happens are Yahoo Messenger, AOL Messenger, Outlook Express, PopOff! and multiple IE5 windows. First of all, note that this is quite a load on poor Win9x! If you can possibly do so, it is best to run fewer or no TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs. However, if you must, here is what you can do to try find out what the offending item is that is causing all these problems. First things first. Make sure that your system is "in shape". Eliminate the possibility that a simple maintenance routine is all that's needed. You should perform the following functions in this order. Clean up your disk. Go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup. This helps to eliminate a great deal of unneeded flotsam. You can specify what you want cleaned out and what you'd like left as is. Shut down all running programs, including anti virus and screen savers -- everything, and go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scandisk and run it in "Thorough" mode. Set it to repair any errors it finds on your HDD. Depending on your disk size this could take a long time, hours even. That's OK, just do it! With all programs still off, go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Defrag and run the disk defragmentation utility. Again, there are some options for running Defrag so look them over. Also, if you have trouble getting Defrag to finish, reboot into Safe Mode and run it there. Defrag also takes a long time to complete; and it typically will take a looong time to get past the 10% or 12% mark. Don't worry; just let it go. Once all that is done, if you still have the problem you know that it isn't due to lack of maintenance. You'll notice that your machine should respond a little better to your troubleshooting from here on as well, so it definitely is not time wasted. When a single program "crashes", whether the crash is confined to the single program (in this case IE5) or even if it takes your whole system down (the dreaded BSOD), usually the problem is the result some kind of a conflict in sharing the available resources required to run a program. In our example, the invalid page fault probably refers to memory. Most likely IE5 tried to use some specific chunk of memory that was either not available or already in use. Since you had so many other programs running at the same time, it might be safe to assume that one of those other programs is the "resource hog". Try unloading just one of those programs at a time. Don't go crazy and turn off all of your TSRs because then you'll never know exactly which one was causing the problem. Start with any one you prefer and simply turn it off. Now surf around with multiple IE5 windows open and everything else exactly as it was before. Give it a few days. If the problem persists, reload the first program and try shutting off one of the others. If you run through each of your TSRs as described and you still have the same problem, start looking at any other little programs that might be running in the background. Do you have an antivirus program loaded? Does your sound card or video card load some fancy utilities every time you start your computer? If so, try turning these off as well, one at a time, just as before with your other TSRs. If you still have problems after running through all this then try running fewer instances of IE5. As a rule, you shouldn't have any more than three instances of IE5 open at any one time. Hardware Problem Troubleshooting Example You have just downloaded a hot new music file and when you go to play it, to your horror, you can't hear any sound. Take a quick glance over at your speakers. Is the green light on, indicating that the speakers are getting power? Is the volume control knob (if you have one) turned up high enough? Take a look at your media player program, is the sound muted in the program? Is the volume slider in the correct position? Try to play a different sound file, perhaps one of your desktop sounds that you know are valid files. Do you hear any sound? Yes? Sigh with relief - you just downloaded a bad file, or an incompatible format. No? Then it's time for more troubleshooting. Now, check the Windows volume control applet and any other sound mixer programs that you have installed. Is the volume muted in any of them? Wave volume turned down? A setting in another volume mixer program may override system defaults. Still can't hear any sounds? Now we're in trouble. We've tried all the easy, obvious steps to resolve this problem. The next step is to open Device Manager and see if there are any problems or conflicts reported. Look for any yellow highlighted exclamation marks beside hardware devices. If you see any, highlight the entry and view its properties. It should give you clues as to what the problem might be, like a resource conflict. Remove any devices in conflict, along with similar devices. For example, if there is a problem indicated beside your serial mouse and the sound card, remove the Mouse, the COM port, the sound card and everything under sound and game controllers in the hardware tree. Restart Windows, and let it detect and install drivers for the devices. Now would be a great time to dig out your CD that has your sound card drivers on it (if applicable). It might also be that Device Manager won't report any problems whatsoever, with any device. Viewing properties of your sound card might show that the device is working properly. We now must look deeper for the problem. Boot Windows in Safe Mode and have a look in Device Manager. Are there any duplicate devices? Expand the + signs and if duplicate devices are found, remove both instances and restart Windows normally. If no problems are found here, remove everything under Sound and Game Controllers and restart Windows normally. Windows should detect your sound card and either apply default drivers or prompt you for the opportunity to install them. If Windows doesn't detect it, you may have to go to Add New Hardware in Control Panel and have it search for new hardware. You might as well let it search for devices, and then, if it doesn't detect anything, choose to manually install the device. Choose from the Sound and Game Controller category, and either click Have Disk to supply drivers, or choose it from a list of devices. Since it was installed before, there should already be an .inf file, and an entry to choose from in the list. If trying to manually force the drivers to install is successful, it will tell you. This still doesn't mean it's going to work, it may just put you back right where you started: With no sound, and in Device Manager it will tell you "This device is working properly". If that's the case, remove the device from Device Manager and shut down the PC. Well we've pretty much ruled out incorrect settings, resource conflicts and driver problems (hopefully, you've downloaded the latest drivers from the manufacturer). The next step is to suspect a problem with the hardware itself. Time to get out the screwdriver, shut down the PC and take the cover off the computer. Try reseating the card in its slot. Restart Windows and attempt to detect and install drivers for the card. Didn't work? Shut down again and try the card in a different slot. Still won't work? Now it's time to dig that spare sound card out of the closet that's known to work, or borrow one from another PC in your home. Try installing the seemingly defunct sound card in another PC, just to be certain something is indeed wrong with it. There is an example of isolating and replacing. We tried the easiest steps in diagnosing the problem first, and then methodically proceeded to isolate the faulty device and replace it with a known functioning sound card. http://www.PCNineOneOne.com